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PIE CHART - Data Visualization for Businesses Essay

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Pie Chart
Data Visualization for Businesses
A picture is worth a thousand words. The ability to graphically represent your business data gives you the power to make informed business decisions quickly. (Microsoft.com, 2002) This representation must be visually appealing and easy to understand. By keeping it simple, it allows the broadest number of users to interpret the data, gain insights as to its meaning and facilitate communication on the data ultimately to solve the company¡¦s problem. Data visualization is the use of interactive, sensory representations, typically visual, of abstract data to reinforce cognition. (Wikipedia.org, 2005) That in itself is a method or technique of decision-making. To further break it down, the most …show more content…

In Figure 1 is the method used to create a pie chart and an example of one complete.
Figure 1
Problem: A pizza parlor owner polled their patrons on what music they would like to listen to while waiting in line and eating in his establishment. He would like to have the radio playing and needs to know what music genre would be conducive to sales and preferred by his patrons. Here are his findings.
Sample size: 100 customers
Rap: 50 Alternative: 25 Rock and Roll: 13 Country: 10 Classical: 2

50 „i 100 like Rap = 50%
Then for drawing a proportionate pie chart:
Percent „i 100 x 360 degrees = the # of degrees
**Circle = 360„a
¡K Therefore Rap will occupy 180„a of the circle
1. Draw a circle with your protractor or stencil
2. Starting from the 12 o¡¦clock position on the circle, measure an angle of 180 degrees with your protractor. The rap pie should make up half the circle. Mark off the radius with the ruler.
3. Repeat that process with each remaining pie and drawing in their radius according to their percentage of 360 degrees.

The pie chart in Figure 1 quickly tells you that the majority of the patrons like rap best, and the remaining students prefer alternative, then rock and roll, then country and ending with classical music. Simply and quickly we are able to see that the majority of the restaurants¡¦ patrons prefer rap music. Pie charts work well when the values of

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